Dear Members and Friends,
The world is on fire. There would be so much to say about the violent upheavals that are killing and causing suffering to so many people; these are matters of deep concern for all of us, and naturally they resonate within our movement as well. However, we have chosen — and continue to choose — to focus these Updates on the work carried out by Vivere and its partners, work made possible thanks to your support, and to avoid commentating on situations where we are not active. These newsletters are intended to report on concrete actions, not to serve as a platform for opinion.
1° Ukraine
Assistance to Ukrainian Refugees
We have now entered the fourth year of war. The movement of people continues relentlessly — either into exile or in search of safer areas within the country, away from the bombings.
The beneficiaries came from a wide range of regions: Odessa, Dnipro, Kherson, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Donetsk, Kyiv, Mariupol, and Luhansk.
In Montenegro:
From March to May of this year, 73 people (35 adults and 38 children) received assistance.
They came from the following regions: Donetsk, Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Kherson, Marianka, and Mariupol.
The Story of Marina and Dashenka (names have been changed)
“We are a family from Kharkiv. I am a single mother with a daughter who has been disabled since birth — she is 8 years old. In Montenegro, we were saved from the war.Following the doctors’ recommendations, my daughter needs a warm climate to avoid flare-ups of pneumonia and bronchitis.
She suffers from numerous congenital malformations, suspected to be linked to Noonan and Alagille syndromes. Almost all of her internal organs are irreversibly affected and function poorly — her heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, thyroid gland, intestines — along with mitochondrial dysfunction, connective tissue damage, and pulmonary artery dilation. She requires constant medical supervision and regular medication. We are regularly admitted to hospitals in both Ukraine and Montenegro, and we have been in intensive care twice when her life was hanging by a thread.
From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank the staff of the organization for the help they have given to me and my child — it means so much to us. My daughter received food and a toy. In addition, the psychological aspect of this support is extremely important — the feeling that there are people who care about the suffering of others, who help families in distress. This becomes especially vital when there is no one else to turn to, and every day is a fight for a child’s life.”
Prosecution of War Crimes Committed by the Occupying Power
Message from our friend and partner, lawyer Gennady Gerasimenko:
“We have made significant progress with the international crimes we have been pursuing , with Vivere’s support. We have finally completed the criminal trial of D… from Izyum. All the defendants were sentenced to 12 years in prison for the crimes committed. The legal proceedings in the case of R… S… have also concluded. The accused were sentenced to 10 years in prison.”
In these cases, the convicted individuals are Russian military personnel captured by the Ukrainian army and tried for crimes committed against the local civilian population.
Gennady has now submitted a new case to us:
“Dear Mike, I am also informing you of the details of the criminal case involving the victim Oleg V…, a friend of D…, whom you met in Izyum.
Oleg V., 21 years old, a resident of the city of Izyum, was arrested on the street in March 2022 during the occupation of the city by soldiers of the DPR-LPR, acting as part of the Russian army.
He was taken to their base, located in a local school, where he was stripped, beaten, tortured, and abused. He was threatened with death, had multiple shots fired near his head, was struck with a wooden stick, and forced to sleep naked on cold nights on a floor covered in sharp construction debris, making it impossible to rest. He was given no water or food for more than three days.
He was then subjected to sexual abuse.
For the following month, he was forced to carry out domestic chores while continuing to be mistreated and beaten.
One month later, Oleg was able to seize an opportunity when no guard was present and managed to escape.
He is now a complainant in a criminal case for war crimes as a victim of torture and sexual violence, and he requires my legal assistance. He wishes to submit a complaint to the International Criminal Court.”
To date, we are supporting the prosecution of 19 war crimes cases, led by survivors who have found the strength to seek justice. Our goal is to ensure that each of these cases is submitted to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
On-the-Ground Mission – June 2025
As has been the case every year since 2005 — including during the years of war —a member of the Vivere Committee traveled across Ukraine in June to meet with our local partners: the Avenir Association in Zhytomyr and lawyer Gennady Gerasimenko in Kharkiv, with stops in Kyiv and Odessa.
These working trips serve multiple purposes: to speak directly with victims who have received support — with home visits whenever possible; to meet with local authorities involved in our work; to review our projects and financial reporting with partners; to evaluate the impact of our activities; and to assess evolving risks and opportunities to better guide our mission.
While many towns and cities are emptying out as people flee in all directions, our partners demonstrate remarkable courage by staying on the ground and doing their utmost to continue caring for victims.
They deserve to be supported and encouraged by our presence, even if only for a few days. In both their words and their writing, they express their heartfelt gratitude for our physical presence.
2° Syrie – Persistent Instability and Increasing Financial Pressures on Humanitarian Aid
The situation in Syria remains well documented by the media: widespread violence persists, and the country faces deep uncertainty across humanitarian, security, economic, and political dimensions. Bloody reprisals — often targeting the Alawite community — Israeli airstrikes, the Kurdish issue, and severe drought are all factors contributing to an era of suffering and uncertainty for the population in the aftermath of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Our Current Assessment: Nutritional Support for Newborns in Homs and Surrounding Areas
We continue to monitor the financial situation of our nutritional supplement program for newborns from the most impoverished households in and around Homs. Since March, the Syrian Pound (SYP) has been unexpectedly gaining value against both the US dollar and Swiss franc — a shift driven by mechanisms we do not fully understand. This sudden change in the exchange rate has directly impacted our project: maintaining support for 45 babies per month now costs approximately $1,200 USD/month, representing a more than 60% increase in costs since late 2024 / early 2025.
We are currently investigating whether inflation in local essential goods corresponds to the evolution of the exchange rate. Given the remaining funds available in Lausanne, it is uncertain whether we can sustain the current level of assistance — in terms of the number of children supported or the value of aid provided per child — through the end of this year.
Scope of Support and Living Conditions
Our aid currently reaches 45 children per month, from birth to six months of age. Over the past five months, 127 infants have received ongoing support, with an additional 99 newborns added — including 40 twins. These figures fall fully within the targeted scope of the project.
However, housing remains a critical issue for nearly all the families receiving aid. Nearly half are displaced- in the month of May, only one in ten families lived in their own home (typically requiring basic repairs). The majority either live with extended family or rent extremely minimal, often unfurnished spaces.
3° Pakistan
New Partnership with the Khawajasira Panahgah Group — Pakistan’s First Shelter for Transgender Protection
At the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024, we joined forces with one of our courageous lawyers to defend Sonia D…, a transgender woman accused of blasphemy. She was immediately imprisoned and faced the death penalty. Thanks to the exposure of the false nature of the accusations and the resulting recognition of Sonia’s innocence, the court ultimately acquitted her and ordered her immediate release.
A long-standing advocate for the transgender community, Sonia used her limited means to create Pakistan’s first shelter for people who have chosen the same life path. During a visit to the country in April, Mike was invited to meet with the roughly ten transgender residents living at Khawajasira Panahgah.
Below are excerpts from his journal:
Sunday, April 13
Khawajasira Panahgah
Founded and managed by Sonia D…, the shelter is currently at full capacity with nine transgender individuals, including two intersex children (a girl and a boy, around 12 years old), both abandoned by their parents. The house is extremely modest, almost clandestine, located in an underprivileged neighborhood of Lahore.
We had a long, open exchange on all subjects with the residents — who appeared remarkably united and supportive of one another, as often happens in marginalized communities that face daily hostility, contempt, malice, or outright aggression from the majority.
Key factors of oppression include:
- Discrimination in all areas: education, employment, access to mosques
- Civil status: the only concession made by the authorities is to mark “Gender: X” on their IDs, a label that is heavily stigmatised in any administrative process, job search, or attempt to access basic services.
Many adult transgender individuals have no choice but to resort to sex work, a context in which they are frequently mistreated, abused, or subjected to violence.
Most are expelled from their family homes, sometimes maintaining sporadic contact with parents but no longer welcome to live under the same roof.
Khawajasira Panahgah, dismissed by provincial authorities, has not yet succeeded in gaining legal recognition as an association. It operates in a legal grey area — tolerated, but unofficial and thus highly fragile.
Resources are precarious and unpredictable. The center covers all living expenses for its destitute residents — housing, food, and medical care. One transgender person is modestly paid to teach literacy to the group, and a male guard is employed to protect them from external aggression.
The total monthly budget required is PKR 200,000 (approx. CHF 627), of which PKR 30,000 (CHF 94) goes toward rent.
The two younger children are enrolled in primary school. One older resident, Aumol, age 16, attends a vocational school. Her education costs PKR 10,000/month (CHF 31.37), which is included in the overall budget.
In view of the extraordinary courage behind this initiative, and the dangerous oppression faced by transgender individuals in a context where radical religious forces violently impose their laws and intolerance on civil society — and taking into account the fragile nature of the Khawajasira Panahgah shelter — the Vivere Committee decided in May to support the shelter with an annual contribution of CHF 1,694 (EUR 1,797), primarily to help cover rent costs.
Art Activity for Children in Detention
Since the beginning of our work in Pakistan in 2016, we have continuously provided legal defense for incarcerated minors, particularly those facing serious charges that could lead to life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
This mission recently led us to connect with Juvenile Justice Advocates International (https://www.jjadvocates.org/), who organized a global art contest by and for children in detention.
We encouraged our partner in Punjab to involve children from one of the few prisons where we are granted access.
The theme of the contest was:
“When you are released, what is your favorite dream?”
Below are some of the paintings created by children aged 9 to 14, along with captions translated to reflect the child’s own words:
Dear Members and Friends,
We once again extend our heartfelt gratitude for your interest in Vivere’s work, for the trust you place in us — which means so much — and for your attentiveness to alerts and calls for action, not only from us, but from others who monitor and respond to current events.
With sincere thanks,
The Vivere Committee